Our Australian Holiday

How’s life for you? I have just spent two glorious weeks with my sister, her two granddaughters and my granddaughter. The last time I saw Jade, she hadn’t yet celebrated her second birthday. To say I was over the moon is a slight understatement. I was thrilled to be able to read stories to her at night, scratch her back while she fell asleep and show her all things Australian.

We visited The Australia Zoo (the Crocodile Hunter’s zoo) where the girls got to relieve a bit of jetlag by running around the park seeing all the Australian animals (and one not so live jumbo croc). They REALLY wanted this joey to hop out of the pouch but no amount of coaxing worked.

You could have heard their “Awwwws” from all over the park when we came upon this mother koala cuddling her little baby.

The girls wanted to be real Australians so surfing lessons were high on the list of must-do things. Luke, their instructor, got all three girls standing up – on the waves. There were mile wide smiles.

The girls took surfing lessons at Noosa and then they went boogie boarding at Mooloolaba as often as they could. They quickly learned why in Australia, you must swim between the flags marking where the lifeguards work. There was a rip on either side and we might have had one girl who needed a rescue.

The girls had a good time at Underwater World aquarium and while they were looking at all the fish and scary things, John and I were at the nearby park cooking traditional Australian sausages and hotdogs on the BBQ. Nothing better than an Aussie barbie.

The last time Carole and Emma came, it was school holidays and she got to sleep at the aquarium. No schoolies this time.

They had a great time at Lone Pine Koala sanctuary and each got a chance to cuddle a koala. Jade had her photo taken by a professional and that was her souvenir for her dad. He loved it. Carole took this photo and I love it just as much.

We wanted the girls to experience a bit of Aboriginal culture but were unable to get a tour at Jellurgal Aboriginal Centre. Searching the web, we found that the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on the Gold Coast has a group of traditional Yugambeh Aboriginal Dancers (from Jellurgal) who perform every day. Of course we had to go.

The girls watched with full attention from the front row. The head guy and singer in the group was fantastic. I would go anywhere to listen to him speak.

On our way home, the girls said they really wanted to bake some gingerbread cookies. We made the dough and while it was chilling, we went back to the beach. Upon our return, dough was rolled, cookies were cut and eager faces were ready to eat some when they came out of the oven. I made the icing and Emma was in charge of the colors. We had some amazing cookies. Photo of the cookies is coming. It’s on Carole’s camera not mine. duh.

The next day, Carole and the girls performed for the oldies at Arcare for their Daffodil Day high tea. They sang I’ll Fly Away with each girl singing a solo and then just for fun, they did, Oh I Had a Little Chickie. The Arcare residents loved Carole’s fiddle music as much as they enjoyed the girls. They often get nursery school children but rarely do they get kids 9 and 12.

Once the performance was over, Carole told their girls they’d ‘get points’ for every oldie they talked to. It was terrific and nobody wanted to go back to his or her room. They waited for their chat.

Finally, one day the 9-year olds wanted to do a ‘fancy dinner’ complete with menus and waitstaff. They asked what was for dinner and then upon entering the dining room we were individually seated and given our menu. Amazingly, everyone ordered everything on the menu. You’ll notice that one of the girls obviously doesn’t like dressing on her salad. Or not.

The girls made flowers for the table, put out the good crystal and china and served all the food. Once it was over, we received another menu for dessert. We all ordered pavlova. Or Pavovla with or without wiped cream. Spelling didn’t matter because enthusiasm was the order of the day.

Since I prepped cooked and the girls did all the work, Carole did the dishes. By the end of every day, I was completely done in. I had help with cooking any time I wanted it. I needed a few potatoes peeled for scalloped potatoes and ham and boy did we have a lot of potatoes.

This was just a part of our holiday. I still have a grin on my face. Thanks to my nephew Ian for making it all happen.

I AM feeling better. Much less foggy brain and a little less back pain. Still a bit dizzy but we finally have a plan for that so I can get back to exercising and I know once I can look up as well as lie on my back, all the back pain will disappear. I’m doing my best to get back to work and back into life.

Finally, last week I received an email from my next door neighbours, Jan and David. They are the friends who go out to eat with us often. Jan and David are in France for 2 months (lucky things) and David wrote, “We’re in Chinon for a few days,” and went on to say where they’d been and what they’d been eating. I replied right away and said my food blogger friend Jamie Schler from Life’s a Feast had bought Hôtel Diderot in Chinon. I said you couldn’t miss her miles of dark, wildly curly hair.

To my utter surprise, David quickly replied and included a photo of Jan, David AND Jamie. They stayed in her hotel – without my hearty recommendation. It’s a small world, isn’t it? Jan said Jamie’s homemade jams and breakfasts were great. I can’t wait to visit myself. Here’s Jan’s photo of Jamie’s jam cupboard.

Comments

Hello there lovely Maureen! What a wonderful time you’ve had with your beloved family… thank you for sharing this with us! Glad to hear that you are on the road to recovery. Take care, be well, happy cooking xxx

It sure looks like you had an amazing time with your lovely family. I’m very glad that you are so n the mend, I can’t imagine being dizzy for as long as you were, you’ve been a real trouper posting as you have been, it’s been nice to keep in touch.
Recently we had another progressive dinner and the theme was New England, our neighbours made nutterflutter, a unique New England treat??

When I saw I had a message from “Maureen,” I couldn’t wait to open it and read your post! And what a fun post it was to read!!! Thanks for sharing your lovely family with us. How fun that the young ones made dinner; loved the clever menu! And the singing 🙂
A little jealous of that jam cupboard! I will head over and check out Jamie’s blog.
So glad things are starting to feel better for you, Maureen! Hope you see full recovery soon.

Oh Maureen, what a treasure chest of wonderful memories!!! And so many lovely stories to tell….we can feel the abundance of delight! Yours & theirs…..(& a little fatigue, lol.)
They are so lucky to have you show them a lifetime experience of Australia, of love & connection in the kitchen, the beauty & the beast of the ocean, & family nurturing in far flung places.
So happy for you…xx

Excellent post, Maureen. I’m so glad it all went so well during those precious two weeks. I bet it all went by far too quickly. You certainly got the girls out and about and experiencing so much of Oz. The photo of your granddaughter cuddling the koala is just priceless and that’s something I’ve never had the opportunity to do and I’ve been here for years! I do love the handmade menus! And yes, what a small world – of all the hotels in France they end up in one you would have heartily recommended. I’m very envious of that jam cupboard! xx

I’m SO pleased to see you back on line, Maureen! It looks as though a visit from family might have been just the medicine you needed – and they are all beautiful girls. Here’s hoping the improvement in your health continues. xxx

Priorities: am so happy for you that the wretched vertigo/tinnitus allowed a long enough journey up and down your coastline for your granddaughters to experience a fair amount of Australiana and you to share this with them. Lovely photos to show readers outside Australia our natural life! Love the Mooloolaba beach photo: this really is how it is 🙂 ! And how time has passed . . . . thinking of Australia Zoo, nine years since Steve Irwin’s death and Bindi at 17 on the stage of the US ‘Dancing with the Stars’ – guess part of me wishes it had been the Australian one . . .

Maureen I loved reading this! I love all the sanctuaries! And those koalas soo soo precious! And brave girls they are to get out on those waves! Sounds like you had an absolutely incredible time and I bet they did too! Here’s hoping that you only continue feeling better and better 🙂 xo

What fun!!! Looks like these two had you running. 🙂 It’s amazing how one reappreciates where they live when company comes to town and they get to show it off and when it’s a couple of 9 year olds, no telling where you end up. And what sweethearts to fix everyone dinner. What a memorable experience. Thanks for sharing. I’ll be smiling all night. 🙂

So glad you’re feeling much better! Let’s hope you’re at 100% soon. What a fun time you’ve had the last few weeks. Loved all the pictures! Mrs KR and I are now going to be taking time off — see you again in October. Hope you’re completely well by then!

I am just tickled pink that you were able to have some long overdue family time! I bet you were even more excited then they were but just tuckered out after their visit. I am sure they will be begging to come back soon. Rest up and take care!

Glad to see you back Maureen, I’ve missed your posts. I’ve tried contacting you through your contact form and the email but did not get a reply back.. so thanks God that you are ok.
What a wonderful post this is, I’ve enjoyed every word and every picture. This is a cherished warm vacation, Loved the Koala, I wish I can hug one too … was shocked at the scene of the girls on the crocodile until you said it is not a live one !!! 🙂

So… happy you got to have this wonderful time with those sweet girls! What fun you have had, you definitely made the most of it! I know they loved being with you and took lots of great memories home with them. Glad to hear you’re feeling better too. I was thrilled to see a post 🙂

I’m really happy to hear you’re on the mend, Maureen. Thank you for sharing this lovely post – I’ve always wanted to visit Australia and it is definitely my dream to one day! Loved reading this post and looking at the pictures! 😀

Maureen – so glad to hear you are feeling better!!! And what a lovely visit y’all had – I bet the girls won’t forget it anytime soon and will be talking about it for a long long time to come! I love Carol’s and the girls’ performance!

You looked forward to this so much, I am so glad it was fantastic. You did so much with the girls, they are so lucky. I love their menus, how cute and grown up all at the same time. The things you showed them will be in their memories forever. So lovely xxx

Oh my face hurts from smiling all the way through this post. What a wonderful adventure, the zoo, the surfing, cookies and a special dinner. What a fantastic post! So glad you are feeling better Maureen – you are missed 🙂

Glad you had a great time with your beautiful family and were well enough to join them in all the activities. What a treat for the residence at Arcare to have Carole and the girls performed for them for their Daffodil Day high tea. Does Carole always travel with her violin?

Nothing like nieces to bring on the sunshine… Love that you made cookie dough, took a dive in the ocean and baked cookies together…Love all the animal piccies too…Did you hear the awww from Santa Monica, CA?

It looks and sounds like everyone had great fun, what a treat it must have been to have a meal cooked for you by the kids 😀 I am glad to hear you are starting to feel a little bit better and on the road to recovery 😀